Steam iron control means



Aug. 10, 1954 T. s. zAsTRow STEAM IRON CONTROL MEANS Filed Oct. 11, 1948/NVENTOR THOMAS 'S. ZASTROW BY 7 W ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10, 1954UNITED STATES A'TEN-TI OFF ICE STEAM IRON CONTROL MEANS Thomas S.Zastrow, St. PauL'Minn assignor to General Mills, Inc., a corporationofillelaware Application October 11, 1948, "Serial-No. 53,961 (01.137587) 15 Claims.

tank in a steam iron to the customary steam gencrating chamber. In somecases, it has been suggested that a single control knob be providedwhich serves both to adjust the setting of the usual valve member andalso as a filling opening for replenishing the supply in the tank. Inthis type of construction there is the problem of preventing leakage orsplashing of thecontents of the tank in the vicinity'of the controlmember, particularly where the dimensions of the tank and of the valveand control members are subject to small manufacturing variations. Ifthe control member is mounted in one wall of the tank, and the valvemember tends to move with respect to that wall during adjustment, it isdifiicult to maintain the knob in sealing engagement with the wall,unless an expensive and complicated separate knob mounting is provided.

Also, where the control knob and iron carry cooperating indicia toindicate the adjustment of the valve member, there is ordinarily noprovision for setting the valve parts to correspond tothe indicatedadjustment. This is particularly troublesome where the valve member ismounted within the tank. p

With these problems and difficulties of the prior art in view, it isaccordingly. one object of the present invention to provide an improvedsteam ironcontrol mechanism. 7 It is a further object to provide aconstruction in which a liquid supply control member is mounted directlyon the liquidtank. a

A further object is theprovision of a construction in which a controlmember mounted in one.

wall of a liquid supply tank is operatively connected to a valve memberfixedly mounted'with respect to a. different wall of the tank;

Another object is to provide such a construction with a drivingconnection between the operating. knob and valve member for rotarymovement of one by the other which at the same time permits limitedlongitudinal movement between the parts.

A, still furtherobject is to provide an axially resilient connectionbetween such a controlk'nob member'within the tank maybe adjustedwithout- 2 3 disassemblyof the tank, so that the valve settingcorresponds .withindicia on the control knob.

Another object .is a construction of thetype described in which the.control knob also serves as a filler plug forthe tank.

Additional objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingspecification in which a preferred embodiment of .the invention isdescribed byway of example and not limitation. In the drawings whichform a part of this specification,

Figure 1 i a side elevation of asteam iron embodying features of theypresent invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on the line '-22 of Fig. 1;v

Fig 4 is a partial perspective view of the top opening in the supplytank; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional. Viewv on the line 5+5 of Fig-2.

In Fig. 1 a steam.,ironing device has been shown which includes "asteaming attachment is iastened to the bottom of a regular. fiatiron H.

The fiatiron includesthe usual heated bottom plate i2, handle I3, andelectrical supply cord Hi connected tothe internal electrical resistancewhich heats the flatiron.

* The steaming attachment 513 includes a steam soleplate It and aliquid, supply tank 58. The, supplytank is mounted at the rear of thesole-. plate in a position behind the handle it of the V flatiron sothatit will not obstruct theview of V the operator. Side brackets 29,mounted on the.

rear of the steamsoleplate" it, support a hori zontal plate member 22(Fig. 2) connected thereto by screws 2 5. The supply tank is is supported. by the brackets Ziland plate member 22. A pipe or conduit 25carries the liquid from supply tank I8 to thesteam soleplate itwh'ere itis vaporized'in a suitablegenerating chamber Zl so that the resultingsteam may passdownwardly through openings 29 inthe bottom of the steamsoleplate and into the material which is being ironed. k V

i The bottom of tank leis provided with a circular opening 28 (Fig.2) inwhich the'cylindrical stem SI of a valve memberi supported. The portionof valve-membersi inside thre'tankineludes a shoulder as "whichflimitsdownward movement of the stem and valve body with re-- spect'to thebottomwall it-oi the tank; suit-' able sealinggasket 36'is clamped'between the shoulder 3t and the bottom wall-3t to 1 provide J aliquid-tight and air-tight connection at this point.

It will be noted that the lower portion of the stem 3! of valve body 32extends downwardly through a circular opening in the horizontal plate22. Below plate 22, the stem 3! is provided with flattened portionsdefining a non-circular section or wrenching portion 31 (Figs. 2 and Awrenching collar 39, having a corresponding noncircular bore, as at 4|,is mounted on the noncircular section. The lower portion 38 of valvebody 32, below section 31, is threaded for reception of a suitable locknut 40. Thus the parts are all clamped firmly together with the valvebody 32 fixed in position with respect to the tank and with the tankitself clamped firmly against the horizontal plate 22. Furthermore, theuse of the external wrenching collar 39 provides for rotary adjustmentof the valve body 32 without disassembly of the parts. This adjustmentis an important feature of the invention as discussed in a subsequentportion of this specification.

The lower portion 38 of the valve body includes a hollow bore 42 intowhich the conduit 26 projects. The conduit is held in position bysuitable compression fittings 44 and 46 of known construction. Fitting44 is likewise threaded onto the lower end of the valve body.

Above the end of conduit 26 the valve body 32 is provided with a centralbore 48 which acts as a metering orifice to determine or limit themaximum flow of liquid from the tank to the conduit. At the upper end ofthis bore 48 a valve seat 58 is provided. Above the valve seat 50 thebore is enlarged as indicated at 5|. A plurality of lateral passages 52communicates with the enlarged bore 5! above the valve seat 50 so thatthe liquid in the bottom of the tank I8 may reach the valve seat andpass on through the conduit 26 when the valve is open.

The upper portion 54 of the valve member 32 serves as a support for avalve rod 60. Thus the upper portion of bore 5| is further enlarged andis internally threaded as at 56 to receive the threaded portion 58 ofvalve rod 66. At the lower end of this valve rod there is a valveportion 62 adapted to cooperate with the valve seat 56 to control theflow of liquid to conduit 26.

The upper end 64 of valve rod 66 is operatively connected to a controlmember or knob 65 mounted in thetop wall 68 of the supply tank. Knob 66is preferably made of moulded plastic material. The main body portion ofthis control knob 66 is in the form of an annular cylindrical shell 76which tapers slightly toward the interior of the tank. On the innersurface I2 of this shell-like portion In a number of longitudinalprojections or splines 14 are provided and these projections areseparated by a plurality of longitudinal or axial slots 16. In thepresent case there are six of the axial projections M and six of thecorresponding intermediate slots 16, all of which are equally spacedaround the internal surface 72 of the shell portion in order thatrespective pairs of the slots 16 will be oppositely or diametricallyaligned.

A pin or key 18 extends laterally through the end as of the valve rod 60and is adapted for selective engagement with any desired pair ofdiametrically opposite slots 16 in order to provide a driving connectionbetween the knob 66 and valve rod 60 which will result in rotation ofthe valve rod and corresponding adjustment of the valve seat 62 inresponse to rotary movement of knob 66. At the same time the slots 16will permit limited axial or longitudinal movement of the rod 66 withrespect to knob 66 for a purpose described below. The ends of pin itengage he inner surface l2 of the knob to prevent accidental removal ofthe pin.

At the lower ends of the projections '76 in the knob, a series ofinternal shoulders 66 are provided. The inner or axial surfaces it ofthese projections 86 fit loosely around the body of valve rod 66 andprovide a bearing portion in which the rod as is axially slidable. Theupper or radial surfaces 83 or these projections 66 provide a horizontalshoulder on which one end of a spring 8! is engaged. The other end ofspring 8! abuts the lower side of pin 53. Spring 5:! is normally undercompression so that it tends to cause relative downward movement ofshoulders 63 and control knob 66 with respect to the valve rod 86. Thepurpose of this resilient axial connection between the rod 60 andcontrol member 66 will be apparent from the subsequent description. Inthe closed position of valve 62, spring 6i is almost fully compressed,so that its coils practically engage each other. Thus the springprovides a positive limit to prevent substantial upward movement of theknob "it, since shoulders 86 engage the spring which in turn engages pinit. After complete compression of the spring, further movement of theknob it away from the valve and tank is prevented.

The upper ends of the longitudinal projections 14 on the interior ofcontrol member 56 are provided with threaded portions 82 into whichthreaded end 8d of a stopper or filler plug 86 may be screwed. Plug 86is provided with a sealing gasket 88 to engage the upper portion of thecontrol member 66 and thereby form an air-tight and liquid-tight closurefor the upper end of the hollow annular body portion of the member. Whenplug 86 is removed, the operator of the iron may replenish the supply ofliquid in tank it by pouring additional liquid through the hollowcontrol member 65. To facilitate the passage of the liquid to theinterior of the tank a relatively large lateral opening 5 6 is providedin the body of the annular shell 16. Opening :96 is located so that itsupper edge is at least as high as the top wall 68 of the supply tank H3,in order that the liquid may be completely drained from the tank whenthe latter is inverted and the plug is removed. Thus the liquid may beremoved from the tank when the steam iron is not in use. The use of aplurality of grooves '36 be tween projections M increases the eifectivecross-section of the filling opening. It also provides extra drivingconnections between the knob and rod, which may be utilized in case ofundue wear of one pair of projections.

To mount the control member 66 in the top of the tank, the top wall 68is provided with an opening 52 whose internal diameter is slightlygreater than the external diameter of the body portions 76 of thecontrol member 66. Preferably the top wall 68 of the tank has anupwardly turned flange 9d around the edge of opening 92.

The upper end of control member 66 is provided with an outwardly anddownwardly directed peripheral flange 96 which is spaced slightly fromthe body shell portion '16 to provide an an nular groove 93 into whichthe flange 6 may project. A sealing gasket I 66 is mounted adjacent theouter edge of the flange 94% and serves as a support for the lower innercorner it! of the ge or shoulder 96.

7 portion $2 with respect to valve seat-55;- 4 5 The adjustment of thevalve members-so that ass-s oo V The width of' the groove 2981i'sso"'chosen" that e no part of thelo'ody "ill of control member B6wil1engage directly with'th'e' flange 54 or 'theitopwa'll'. 6815f the tank.The control member is supported controlmember tili provides a means forreplenon the sea-ling gasket H56 and because the'internal" 5 iz'tvh'a'n"pa te Openings for the mounting of a diameterof flange. 943s greaterthan the external diameter of the corresponding portion of shell '59,there is a small annular. air space lmloetween the respective portions.The supporting flange Marthe-control memberfifi is provided with'one ormorelateral openings it vzhich'cominunicate with the internal groove orspace 98X" Thus'a round-about or substantiallytortuous air passage. isprovided between the interior of tank 'I a and the. outer atmosphere:eThisairv passage includes I the narrow annular spaceliifi the grooveHQQand the opening-or openings HM.- Such. anair pase. sage is essentialinorder to permitdownward flow of the liquidwithinthe tank under-theinefluence of gravity, even when the plug 86?com-.i pletely seals-thelarge'central-filling opening in the control member.

One or more transversepartitions or abutments illtsmay be provided inthe" space 93 to'oooperate 2 With-.an'upstanding lugor stop member I08on the-flangetiof the tank. Thus the lug ita -may limitthe rotation ofcontrol member Stein-either dire'ctionso that suitable indicia-i won theuppersurfaceor other portion of'the control meinber 3 already described;Thus 'theori'ginal'setting of 40 knob 1% cannot be disturbed by'theuser;

Furthermore; since the resilientconnectionin-i volving' spring 3! tendsto urge theicontrol meme"; ber downwardly at all'times with respect to:

"on 'lEH ofthc the valve rod-t3, thebearin'g por: flange 96 on thecontrol mern'loer" held firmly against the sealing gaske if lo coprovideanair and liquid-tight closure betweenithe" control niein oerand thetank wall t3; This" tight '1 sealing engagem nt will be maintained atall times regardless of variations in the initial dimensions due tomanufacturingtolerances-and? regardless of vertical or axial move; ent"ofthe control rodliS-as it is rotatedtoadiu the valve" theycorrespondtothe indicia'. lit and iiionthe knob and tank; may be readilyaccomplishedwith out disassembly of theparts. It is only necessary toloosen the'lock nut dil With the valve 6 screwed to its fully closedposition',-'and withpinlSin driving engagement with the desired pair 1ll" always. he

- tween the *valve and control members for. posiof slots it; it is asimple matter to turn the wrenching collar 39 (and with it the valveoody 3:2,Valve rod 9%; and knob ttf untilth'e' indicia 65 see and H2indicate the closed position. Such .anadjustinent may be made 'b oth inin itialfam toryassem'cly of the device and in later testing of "theattachment without 'disa ssembly; V V

A construction has accordingly bSEDjElGYldBd? life-. hich a singlecontrol member t t-is op tiv'ely connected to a valve actuating membersupported within the supply. tank leso-asto "maintainthe controlmemberin sealing"engagement-with the control-member and'a filling plugrespectively. An air passageis provided to permit the gravitypleteemptying of-the tank for-periods of storage.

Theiresilient connection" between the valve rod 66 and control memberttmay be established in any one'oi a pluralityof angular positions in caseof excessivewear of the plastic parts. And finally, it is a simplematter to'adjust the initial setting of 'theknoban'dits 'indiciatocorrespond to the-- actual condition of the valve itself, withoutdisassembly of the valve.

parts, in the light of the teachings ofthis application.The'presentinvention is accordingly intended to include all suchmodifications and im' 'provement'sia'sfall'within the spirit andscope ofternally projecting annular. flange surrounding the. opening, valvemeans controlling the flow of liquid fro'mthe' tank and including avalve casing memben-a rotatable valve regulating member ,threaded into.thecasing member within the tank,.

a control memberrotatable in the opening and.

havingan inwardly projecting peripheral flange cooperatingwith the tankoutside the annular flangeto close the openingand to maintain thecontrol member in operative position within the opening, and-la directoperative. connection betive-- rotation in i both directions, theconnection including resilient means directly engag-ingthei valve andcontrol members and urging the pe ripheral flange against the tank.regardlesaof H relative axial movement of the valve member;

2. in steam"ironing device comprising a liquid supplyetank having anopening and an annularflange surrounding the opening, valve meanscontrolling-thefiow' of-liquid from the tank, and includinga rotatablevalve regulating member Within: the tank; a control member rotataL-lymountedinthe opening and having a substan- --tially smaller :diameterthanthe opening to provid'eran annularxair passage-between the memberand. flange,-"the control member having a pe--ripli'eralflangecooperating with the tank outsidetheitankifiahgerto"clo'sethe opening, the peripheral -ilar'lgebeing'fspaced .from the bodyofthe control- -m'emberi to' provide anannular groove intowhich the annular fiangeproj ects, said an nulargroove.communicating with the annular air spaceandt theperipheral flangehaving an airven-t 'therein -icommunicatingwith the groove, r meansmaintaining the control meinher'in oper ative-positionwithin theopening;and anLoper+ ative-connectionibetween the valve and control mernbers'forpositiverotati'on inboth directions;

.dingto claim noetween the' valve and--control memloers includesresilient 3; A steam ironing device ace: 2, in which the operativeconnect meang-urg'ing the peripheral-flange of the con" trolmemberagainstthe tankregardless of rela titre-axialmovement of the"valve member.

Cha'ngesyand modifications may be made inthe" specific" struotureandarrangement oi the 4. A steam ironing device according to claim 2, thecontrol member having an axial filling opening therein and a pluralityof angularly spaced axial projections in the opening, and a driving keyon the valve regulating member for selective engagement with one of saidaxial projections.

5. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having anopening in one wall and an annular bearing flange surrounding theopening, valve means controlling the flow of liquid from the tank andincluding a control member rotatable in the opening and having a smallerdiameter than the opening and thereby providing an annular air passagebetween the control member and bearing flange, the control member alsohaving a spaced peripheral flange cooperating with the tank outside thebearing flange and having an air vent communicating with said annularair space, and coacting portions on the peripheral flange and bearingflange limiting relative lateral movement of the control member withinthe opening.

6. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having anopening and a bearing flange surrounding the opening, a rotatableregulating member within the tank, a control member rotatable in theopening and having a smaller diameter than the opening to provide anannular air passage between the control member and bearing flange, thecontrol member having a peripheral flange cooperating with the tankoutside the bearing flange to close the opening, a stop member on thebearing flange, an abutment on the control member inside the peripheralflange for engagement with the stop member to limit rotation of thecontrol member, the control member having an air vent communicating withsaid annular air passage, and an operative connection between theregulating and control members.

'7. A steam ironing device according to claim 6 in which the operativeconnection includes cooperating shoulders on the control and regulatingmembers, and a spring compressed between the shoulders urging thecontrol member and its peripheral flange against the tank, the spring inits fully compressed condition limiting relative outward axial movementof the control member and preventing effective axial disengagement ofthe abutment from the stop member.

8. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having anopening, a valve casing member inside the tank having a projectionextending out through the opening, locking means mounting the projectionand easing member in fixed position in the tank opening, a valveregulator rotatably mounted in the casing member and having a controlmember outside the tank, means controlling the rate of liquid flow inaccordance with the relative angular adjustment of the regulator andcasing member, cooperating indicia on the control member and anotherpart of the device to indicate the condition of the valve regulatorrelative to the casing, and a wrenching portion on the extendingprojection for relative rotary adjustment of the casing member tocorrect the setting of the indicia.

9. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having alignedopenings in opposite walls, a valve casing member in the tank having ahollow liquid conducting projection extending out through one opening,locking means fastening the projection and easing member in the opening,a valve regulator rotatably mounted in the casing member and having acontrol memher rotatable in the opposite opening, means controlling therate of liquid flow in accordance with the relative angular adjustmentof the regulator and casing member, cooperating indicia on the controlmember and tank to indicate the condition of the valve regulatorrelative to the casing, and a wrenching portion on the projectionoutside the tank for rotary adjustment of the casing member to correctthe setting of the indicia.

10. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having anopening, a valve including a valve member inside the tank with awrenching portion externally accessible through said opening, a controlmember outside the tank operatively connected to the valve and havingindicia showing the condition of the valve, and means controlling therate of liquid flow through the valve in accordance with the relativeadjustment of the control member and valve member, said valve memberbeing independently adjustable by said wrenching portion to obtaincorrespondence between the showing of said indicia and the actualcondition of the valve.

11. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having anopening, a rotatable regulating member within the tank, a control memberrotatable in the opening, cooperating stop portions on the tank andcontrol member limiting the relative rotation of the latter and normallycapable of disengagement by predetermined relative axial movement of thecontrol member and tank in one direction, and an operative drivingconnection between the regulating and control members includingcooperating shoulders on said members and a spring compressed betweenthe shoulders and normally urging the control member in the oppositedirection relative to the tank, thereby maintaining the control memberin operative position within the opening, the amount of relative axialmovement of the control member required for full compression of thespring between said shoulders being less than the predetermined amountof relative axial movement required for disengagement of said stopportions.

12. A one-piece valve control member and filler for use with a liquidsupply tank having an opening and a rotatable valve regulating memberinside the tank aligned with the opening, said control member having acylindrical body portion of diameter smaller than the opening, aradially outwardly projecting flange on said body member for engagementwith the tank around said opening, the body portion having an axialfilling opening and angularly spaced axially extending integral drivingprojections in the filling opening for rotary driving engagement withsaid regulating member, a radially inwardly projecting bearing shoulderat the lower end of at least one of said driving projections, andthreaded portions on the upper ends of said projections providingretaining means for a coaxial threaded filler plug.

13. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having anopening, a valve including relatively movable valve casing and valveregulating members inside the tank, one of said valve casing and valveregulating members having a wrenching portion externally accessiblethrough said opening, and a control member ou side the tank operativelyconnected to the other of said valve members and having indicia showingthe condition of the valve regulating member relative to the valvecasing member, the rate of liquid flow through the valve beingcontrolled according to the relative adjustment of the valve regulatingmember and valve casing member, and said one valve member beingindependently adjustable by said wrenching portion to make the actualrelative condition of said valve members correspond to the showing ofsaid indicia.

14. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having anopening in one wall, valve means controlling the flow of liquid from thetank and including a valve casing member, a rotatable valve regulatingmember rotatably mounted in the casing member and located within thetank, the casing and regulating members cooperating directly with eachother and thereby providing a valve orifice which varies according tothe relative rotary adjustment of the regulating member with respect tothe casing member, a control member rotatably mounted in the opening andhaving a peripheral portion cooperating with the tank wall around theopening to close the latter, and a direct operative connection betweenthe valve and control members for positive rotation in both directions,the connection including resilient means directly engaging the valveregulating and control members and urging said peripheral portionagainst the tank regardless of relative movement of the valve member.

15. A steam ironing device comprising a liquid supply tank having anopening in one wall, valve means controlling the flow of liquid from thetank and including a rotatable valve regulating member within the tank,a control member rotatably mounted in the opening and having a urgingthe control member portion against the tank regardless of relative axialmovement of the valve member, said spring also urging the valve memberaxially in one direction at all times and thereby eliminating lostmotion axially of the valve member.

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